While Ms. Mirna Citrano was shopping at a K-Mart she stepped on a plastic hanger. She slipped, fell and sustained serious injuries. K-Mart's hangers were clear plastic, and not easy to see on the floor. As a large merchandiser, K-Mart's management knew full well that many hangers end up on the floor every day, and that clear plastic hangers left on the floors present a significant hazard, because they are so difficult to see. A customer who steps on hanger doesn't know that the dangerous condition exists until it's too late. A plastic hanger has a very low coefficient of friction, meaning that once a customer's weight is on the hanger, it slides very easily. Taken by surprise, the customer has no opportunity to respond, and can easily slip and fall. The risk for customers, particularly for those who are older and whose eyesight may be compromised, can be significant when they step on an object unawares, and their risk of severe injuries is high.
Casey Gerry San Diego slip and fall attorney Thomas Luneau demonstrated that under California law, store management had an obligation to maintain the aisles and walking areas of its store in safe condition for its customers.
Mr Luneau attempted to settle this case out of court, but in the end was obliged to take it to trial. The jury found against K-Mart, stating that the management clearly knew the hangers created a dangerous condition, and should have taken reasonable steps to correct this problem. We were successful in obtaining a significant recovery for our client, and this case also established that K-Mart and other retail establishments were obliged to maintain their stores in a safe condition for their customers.
Casey Gerry partner and premises liability attorney Gayle Blatt recently represented the widow and two children of a young construction worker who died from injuries sustained when he fell from the roof of a three story building. This young worker, described by his supervisor as one of his best employees, was working on the roof installing a chimney box. The 60-pound wooden box came loose and slid down the roof. The worker then lost his footing and slid down the roof. There was no protective scaffolding to catch him, and he fell three stories and landed on concrete. He was transported by Life Flight to a hospital, but his injuries were multiple and severe, and he died within the day.
Cal/OSHA safety standards require that when workers are on the roof, protective scaffolding be in place at roof height, close enough to the roof to stop a fall. That day the protective scaffolding around the building was neither at roof height nor close enough to the edge of the roof.
The general contractor for this multi-building residential construction project had sub-contracted with another company to provide scaffolding as fall protection for the framers and carpenters.
Casey Gerry premises liability attorneys demonstrated that the superintendent failed to formalize the process for communicating for which buildings scaffolding would be needed and when had broken down. Their process for this essential safety-related function relied on verbal and or telephonic communication. Casey Gerry attorneys further established that neither of the principals of the company that had contracted to provide fall protection had knowledge of the Cal/OSHA scaffolding requirements.
The construction superintendent was aware that workers were on the roof that morning. He knew that scaffolding was needed, yet he failed to confirm that it had been installed. In fact there was nothing at the edge of the roof, three stories high, to interrupt the worker's deadly fall.
Cal/OSHA's accident investigation report found that this fall was foreseeable by all parties, and entirely preventable. Had scaffolding been erected in compliance with the well-documented Cal/OSHA regulation, it would have prevented the worker's fall and untimely death.
The worker's death left his widow and two young children grieving and financially devastated. Casey Gerry's premises liability attorneys in San Diego were able to show that the scaffolding contractor's failure to understand the Cal/OSHA safety requirements and both the general contractor's and the scaffolding subcontractor's failure to ensure these requirements were met led to the death of this young husband and father. They were able to resolve the case with a monetary award that compensated the widow and will help her raise her young children.
Casey Gerry's premises liability attorneys have also represented bicyclists who have been injured as a result of dangerous conditions on roadways. In one case, our client, an athletic young woman was riding her bicycle on a state road when its front tire got stuck in a grate installed in the roadway. The grate had been installed so that the slots in the grate ran parallel with the direction of the bike lane. When her tire crossed the grate it fell into it and got caught, causing her bicycle to come to and unexpected, immediate and complete stop. Our client was catapulted over the handlebars, landed hard on the pavement, and suffered serious injuries.
The premises in this case was a state road, and the responsible party was the state of California. Casey Gerry premises liability lawyers demonstrated that by placing a grate with openings that ran parallel to tires on the shoulder and allowed a bicycle tire to drop into it, state employees had created a risk of harm to cyclists and failed to maintain a safe premises. Casey Gerry attorneys were able to secure a settlement for our client that enabled her to recuperate without financial harm.